Deliverance Chronicles Granted
by Lauri Elizabeth Cullen
Summary: A point of view prologue to help better understand the characters in the actual story, Deliverance.


_** Catryna Richardson:**_

_**We regret to inform you that your guardians**_

_**Mr. Jonathan & Mrs. Cathryn Richardson**_

_**were severely injured in the plane crash of**_

_**Flight # 392 departing to Bosnia. They were**_

_**escorted to United Bosnian Universal Hospital**_

_**where they were pronounced dead. The only**_

_**article with them that was recovered was the**_

_**locket enclosed with this letter. We are sorry**_

_**for your loss.**_

_**Sincerely,**_

_**Mr. Archibald Salihamidic PHD**_

That was it. Cold. Formal. Heartbreaking. Devastating. Fourteen hours of crying later I was told by my nanny that my belongings were packed and ready to be sent with me to some remote island around Brazil. I was being shipped off to live with my second cousin once removed or something or another. I've only seen the recluse once. The lawyers say she's apparently my closest relative. I don't believe them, but have no choice but to go and live with her.

Six hours of questions, tantrums, and more crying later here I am. Mechanically braiding my hair, which had become a mess somewhere around midnight. I chanced a glance at my clock on the wall. Three o' clock PM.

I turned back to my mirror and examined my reflection. My ice blue eyes were lifeless and bloodshot. My face was puffy. Clothes disgustingly disheveled. I'm pretty sure I haven't looked this bad since I was born. I pried myself out of the chair I was sitting in and trudged to my bathroom.

I turned on the faucet and watched the water run into the sink. I bent down to wash my face, then I saw the locket dangling in the void between my neck and the steady stream of cool water. I fought back the tears as I tucked the delicate locket that used to belong to my mother under my shirt. I scrubbed away the mascara trails and the smudged eyeshadow slowly. I dried the water off and walked to my bed, where I had laid out clothes that I never wear; sweats. I pulled them on, not caring, and surveyed my room for what I knew was the last time.

The sun was reflecting off the mirror on my pale yellow wall beside the bed, causing the opposite wall to be cast in shimmering prisms. On the wall above my bed were pictures of Mom, Dad, and I in various vacation places all over the world. We were happy and smiling in all of them. Then there were the pictures of Mom and Dad separately. Mom; her strawberry blonde hair shimmering in the sun of Hawaii, warm brown eyes reflecting some unknown mirth that my dad his probably spouted off in the background. Dad; his tousled hair falling into the ice blue eyes that mirrored mine exactly and a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. I pulled the pictures off the wall and managed to shove them into my duffel bag. The house was silent. And eerily so. Normally my parents would be getting home now, or hosting some fancy shindig. The house was now silent and echoic. Lonely.

I was startled out of my reverie by a soft knock on my door. I turned to see our butler Martin standing in my doorway. I waited expectantly.

"Are you ready to depart Miss Richardson?"

I cleared my tight throat and nodded slightly.

"The limousine is ready for you outside, ma'am. I transported your luggage into the trunk as of three thirty this afternoon. If you're ready, the driver will take you to the airport."

I started to nod when a sudden thought hit me like a cow running away from a burger shack.

"Martin what about my BMW?"

"It will be awaiting your arrival at your cousin's villa, Miss Richardson."

I nodded desolately, though feeling infinitesimally better knowing some piece of home will be with me in my deserted prison with my weirdo cousin. I followed Martin outside and slid into the limo when he stood stoically by the door he held open. I let a solitary tear slide silkily down my cheek when he closed the door. I fought the rest of them back as I watched the house slowly disappear out the back window. It took a while, the house was very large.

I must have fallen asleep not long after we left the house because I had to be woken up by Mabel, my nanny, when we arrived at the airport in southern France. I trudged drearily to the plane as the snow poured out of the clouds in heaps. I was finally left to my own devices as Mabel finally left my side before I got on the plane. I sat in the first class section on the sparsely populated plane and pulled a blanket down from the overhead storage compartment. I situated myself on the seat and fell asleep to the sound of the plane engines taking off.

I woke up with a bump as the plane landed again. I rubbed my eyes blearily as I grabbed my carry on bag and walked into the blazing hot inferno that met me the instant I stepped onto the tarmac. I already hated Brazil.

A quick glance around showed me that there were two places I could go: to the grimy looking building that was supposedly the airport, or I could go to the minivan with the dude standing by it and holding a sign with my name on it. I looked from one to the other, weighing my options, then with a heavy sigh decided on the minivan only because there was a hobo hovering outside the airport door.

"Catryna Richardson?"

"Yes," I answered warily.

"Hayley is away on business, and I was sent to take you to the house."

Great. The weirdo isn't even here to envelop me into her cult. Although that had its advantages. As far as I knew she lived in this huge creepy house by herself so I could explore and plunder freely without the hovering that I was exposed to over the past forty-eight hours. I loaded my bag into the backseat of the minivan and then pulled my puff coat, hat, long-sleeved shirt, two pairs of jeans, and my socks off. I heaped them into the seat next to my backpack and skeptically climbed into the passenger seat of the van with the kid who didn't even look old enough to shave, much less drive. I felt like I was taking my life into my hands as he managed to coax the van to eighty miles an hour out of the parking lot and narrowly missing the hobo.

"I'm Lakotah, by the way."

"Catryna."

"I know," he laughed. "Hayley's told me all about you."

"Great..." I groaned.

I watched in horror as he pulled out his phone and start texting, not watching the road.

"EYES ON THE ROAD, PLEASE?!" I practically screamed at him.

He swerved, dropping his phone onto the floor. Once he picked up his phone up and was driving straight again he looked at me, grinning.

"I can see. Calm down."

"Are you even old enough to be driving?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I turned nineteen a month ago."

"Oh," came my stupid reply.

I watched him roll his eyes out of my peripheral and was about to flag him on staring at me when a looming house caught my attention.

In the middle of what looked like a rain forest sat a secluded three-story house that looked like it would be more at home sitting next to the palace in Czechoslovakia. It was pristine white with numerous windows with balconies protruding from under them, perfectly manicured hedges, a long, winding driveway, and a pool peeking out from the back of the house. It was the farthest thing from cobwebs, crypts, dungeons, and downright doom that I had expected.

I opened the door and stood on the gravel of the driveway unsteadily, my jet lag kicking in early apparently. I turned to go inside, then frowned when Lakotah was already opening the front door.

"Aren't you going to bring my stuff inside?"

He turned around and gave me an incredulous look. And then, he dared to snort at me.

"You've got two hands, carry your own stuff Princess."

And with that he disappeared into the house, closing the door behind him. I huffed, then started making the many treks to and from the minivan that were required to bring in all of my luggage. I closed the door behind me and sighed. The house was huge inside.

"Um, is anybody here?" I called hesitantly.

"Yes." was the generic answer I received from somewhere in the direction of the hallway to my left.

"Well," I continued. "Which room is mine?"

"Whichever one seems to hold your enormous amounts of crap."

I didn't know how to reply to such a rude comment, so I stomped upstairs and starting examining each of the bedrooms, eventually finding one on the third floor with a view of the secluded backyard and pool. It also had a small balcony and a window seat inside. It was a light yellow, just like my old room. I was hit with a pang of emotion, but pushed it back and continued surveying the room. The bed was adorned in a creme-colored duvet cover and scattered with pillows. There weren't any pictures on the wall, but that was okay, it just meant I could hang up my own. There also seemed to be a large closet through a slightly ajar door to my left. To my right was another door, though I think this one led into the small bathroom I would now have all to myself. The door I had just came through was the fourth and only other door in the room, and it led to the stairwell. Well, I thought to myself, Lakotah should be THRILLED; this room seemed large enough to hold all of my "crap". Hooray. Now to lug all of said stuff up the three flights of stairs and into the bedroom.

An hour later I sat, or I suppose a more appropriate word would be lumped, myself onto the bed in one sweaty, tangled, exhausted mass. I had unpacked all the contents of my luggage and packed everything away into its place. Everything was spotless. Except for me. Now I needed to drag myself into the shower before I went to see what was for dinner.

Thirty minutes later I was examining the dining room, myself neat and tidy. I was drawn to the kitchen by noises that might resemble a monkey slurping a banana out of its peel. I peeked around the corner to see Lakotah eating something pale and stringy out of a bowl. It smelled like seasoning, but looked as though it contained none.

"What is............that?" I asked, almost afraid to know the answer.

"Ramen."

"Why are you eating that? Aren't they fixing dinner?"

"I don't know who you mean by THEY. If you mean the servants, there are none. Butlers: none. Maids: none. Valets: none. You want something, get it yourself."

I stood gob smacked, gaping at him.

"That's right Princess. It's called manual labor. There's more Ramen in the cabinet. The instructions are on the pack. The microwave is above the big square thing with coils on it."

I huffed and stomped to the kitchen. I searched the cabinets until I found some packs of stuff that said Ramen. I poured the contents into a metal bowl and doused it with the required amount of water, then tried to figure out how to work the microwave. I walked to the fridge, hoping to find something useful, then decided to go see if I had packed any food from home. When I had delved into my purse I found some snacks packed by Mabel. I had just lifted them out onto the bed when there was a sudden ear-piercing beeping. I raced downstairs to see Lakotah pointing a fire extinguisher at the microwave, which was spitting sparks. It was soon covered in white foam.

"How do you burn RAMEN?!"

"I-I don't know.........I'm sorry....."

He grumbled something under his breath, then pulled out a box of crackers out of the cabinet. He handed them to me as he walked out and down the hall. I watched him disappear into the upstairs portion of the house, feeling guilty that I had caught the microwave on fire. I munched on the crackers absently as I wandered outside and into the backyard. I found a bench hanging from a heavily-leaved tree and sat on it. The seat was very comfortable, and I started daydreaming, still absently munching on crackers, as I let my brain go fuzzy.

_*_

_I was being carried._

_I didn't know who it was, I didn't care._

_All I knew is that whatever it was smelled good._

_And warm._

_And I felt safe._

_I snuggled into my comfort zone and settled back into unconsciousness._

*

It was too bright. There was light everywhere. I wanted to stay wrapped in my warm blanket that I was in earlier. But it was gone. I woke up with a pitiful, strangled groan. I sat up and looked around, cursing the bright light pouring through the windows. I was in my room, still in my jeans and t-shirt. I didn't remember walking back inside.

Realization dawned on me. I didn't walk back inside. I was carried. Great. I wandered into my bathroom and took a shower. When I got out I wiped the condensation off the mirror. I surveyed my reflection, then went about the task of brushing out and braiding my long hair. Once this was done I put my contacts and randomly smudged on some purple eyeliner. I wandered over to my closet to pick out my clothes, eventually settling on jean shorts and a purple t-shirt.

I went downstairs quietly, not knowing whether or not Lakotah was up or not. I secretly hoped he wasn't. Looking at the clock I saw that it was already lunchtime; he couldn't still be asleep this late. Of course, I had only just woken up, so who was I to judge?

And then there was the complications of fixing food for breakfast. There was practically no food in the house except for the cursed Ramen and the freaking box of crackers. Maybe there was a loaf of bread and I could have some toast.

I found my way to the expansive kitchen and searched the cabinets again. I did eventually find some bagels and orange juice, pouring some in a glass and sitting myself at the table. I was halfway through my bagel when I heard the back door open, then close, then footsteps walk into the kitchen. I unconsciously looked up, blushing slightly and choking on my mouthful of bagel.

Lakotah stood shirtless in the doorway, glistening with a slight sheen of sweat all over his body, defining his abs even more so than normal, I would guess. He was wearing running shoes and shorts, and carrying an empty water bottle. He was breathing heavily, so I assumed he had been running. I watched captivatedly as he went over to the sink and re-filled his water bottle, then downed it in three gulps. Then he turned and looked at me, as if noticing me for the first time.

"Well well, look who finally emerged. Sleep good Princess?"

I chose to ignore the nickname, though it irked me heavily.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I did, no thanks to you."

"Well I would argue quite the opposite, actually. If I hadn't have carried you inside the mosquitoes would have carried you away, if the tarantulas didn't beat them to it. You should be thanking me," he smirked.

"TARANTULAS?!" I half squeaked, half screamed.

He seemed to find my phobia of spiders hysterical, and was now doubled over and laughing loudly, slapping his knee.

"Oh shut up. It's not funny."

He recovered, though he was still smiling idiotically. He seemed to remember something then, then shrugged it off as he started peeling an orange.

"Is that your BMW outside?"

"Yeah. Why? What did you do to it?"

"Chill, I didn't do anything to your awesome car. It's just covered in dirt and mud and dust, and it needs some TLC."

Without thinking I blurted out, "Would you like to work on it for me? Because I have no idea how to do anything having to do with cars and I don't want anything to happen to it!"

He seemed elated and agreed instantly. He hurriedly finished his orange, then practically skipped out of the front door. Wow. Guys and cars. I guess it was like girls and shoes. Oh well. My dilemma was why I even let him near my car, much less why I just seem to blurt things out when I'm around him. It was frustrating. I decided to wander the house in a fit of boredom.

It appeared to be very new. There was very little furniture in most of the rooms, with the exception of a large room with wall-to-wall bookcases and stacks of papers on every flat surface in the room. I had never had much of an interest in books, but something about this room drew me in. Most of the books in the bookcase closest to the door looked like fairy tales; they were all old, thick books that were multiple shades of blue. In the bookcase next to this one were books that looked ancient, all in various shades of red. Each of the other bookcases were similar to the first and second; though they each varied in color from white to orange to brown to black.

The second I looked at the shelf with the multiple brown books I felt strangely addicted to find out what the books were about. I walked over to them and read for hours, finally noticing a pattern. Every single one of these books was about werewolves. I felt a weird, yet familiar, connection to them. I had never believed in any of the mumbo jumbo in these books, even when I was little, though now I seemed to believe every word. It was bizarre. I shook it off, then decided to take one up to my room to read later. I set the book on my nightstand and made my bed. I wandered outside to the swing in the backyard and settled into it.

I wondered where my sudden fixation with werewolves had come from. I certainly had no idea, it's not like I wanted it to happen. I didn't believe in werewolves. Did I? No. I couldn't. Because they don't exist. I pushed back the little voice in the back of my mind that argued that theory and thought about grass. It was the best I could do on the spur of the moment. Dogs eat grass. UGH! What was wrong with me? Werewolves don't exist. I gave up trying to process information entirely after an hour of arguing with myself.

I took to surveying the backyard. It had lots of exotic plants and flowers. The pool only took up half of the perfectly manicured yard, but it was still huge. It had a flat rock at one end that I presumed was for diving off of. At the other end it was more shallow and secluded, plants covering it and forming a sort of cove. There was a group of lounge chairs on the other side of the pool, looking like they were also brand new. I think I brought my bikini, I would need to work on my tan. I usually did so on our family vacation in Morocco, but I would have to make due. I suddenly missed my parents terribly. I stroked the locket that had become a permanent addition to myself. I never took it off. I wiped a stray tear off my cheek.

"My parents are dead too," came a quiet voice from behind me.

I gasped in surprise and turned around to see Lakotah looking sadly at me.

"I-I didn't know that. I'm sorry..."

He sighed and sat on the ground by my feet.

"Me too. They left me to raise my little brother and sister on my own. For a while everything was doing okay, nobody else had died. But then there was a massive outbreak that wiped out over half of the tribe. Including my baby sister. My brother followed her a week later. When I left, there were only sixteen people alive, and only five of them weren't infected. I came here after I met Hayley in Colorado. She was nice enough to let me come live with her for free as long as I helped around the house and stayed here while she was gone."

"I'm really sorry..." I got up and hugged him.

"I know..." he replied as he hugged me back.

He didn't show any signs of moving, and I suddenly didn't want to move, but I let go and sat back up in my chair. We sat there silently for a few minutes, then Lakotah cleared his throat and stood up.

"Um, how about we go downtown to the store and buy something you will actually eat? That doesn't get burned easily..."

"Okay. Can I drive? I prefer my car over that minivan. No offense."

"No, not taken, I hate that van too. I don't mind if you drive. We can take my car next time."

"Okay. Where are the keys? And we'll need some money..."

"I'll be right back. The keys are in the ignition."

I watched him run into the house, then sighed and went around front to see my car practically sparkling. It hadn't looked this good even when it was brand new.

"Wow..." I mumbled to myself, then jumped when I heard Lakotah laughing behind me. I turned and smacked him on the chest. My first thought after that was ow. My hand stung, but I don't think he even felt it. I huffed and got in my pristine car. I started the engine and waited until Lakotah got in, then took off down the road at about seventy miles an hour. I listened patiently to his instructions and turned when he told me to. I parked as far away from all of the other cars as possible, which earned me a smirk from Lakotah. He seemed to get a kick out of all of my practicalities and phobias. We walked into the average sized grocery store and got a cart. I let him push it while I surveyed everything around me.

"So what DO you eat Princess?"

"I'm a vegetarian. So no meat. And I'm into health food."

"Rabbit food is this way." he teased, then pushed the buggy over to the produce section. I picked out some bananas, mangoes, papayas, Brazil nuts, sugar cane, the regular salad components, and some fresh rice. Then I went to pick out more of my own food while Lakotah went to the butcher section and got Lord knows how much meat. When our cart was full to the point of bursting we checked out, spending about two hundred dollars total. We managed to fit all of the bags into the car and drove home, quietly for the most part. I put the groceries away as Lakotah brought them in.

"Will I ever see my cousin?"

"Yeah, she's coming home tomorrow I think."

"Oh. Okay. Thanks."

"Sure." And with that, Lakotah disappeared into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. I heard the television come on and sighed. I didn't really know what to do with all of my free time, I had never had so much of it. At home I went to school during the day with my tutor, and I had tennis lessons, and then horseback riding after that if my parents weren't home. I wondered if when Hayley came home if I would have to go to public school. The thought made me cringe. I walked up to my room and went through my nightly routine. I settled onto my bed and started reading the book on my nightstand, falling asleep sometime around midnight.

* * *

The next morning when I woke up I was thoroughly rested and feeling unusually cheery. I sang happily along with my iPod as I got ready, pulling on some blue jean Sophies, a dark purple spaghetti strap shirt, and leaving my hair down, causing it to fall almost all the way to the bottom of my ribcage. I brushed on some sparkly lip gloss and purple eyeliner and put in my contacts. I smiled happily and skipped downstairs. I made myself some yogurt and granola, then sat outside on one of the lounge chairs while I ate. I saw Lakotah at one point, though he was running and didn't notice me. He was very graceful when he ran, I noticed. Whoa, where did that come from? This is ridiculous, I thought. All I do or think about revolves around Lakotah. I told myself it was because I was bored stiff and there was no one else here. Once Hayley got home maybe I would be sufficiently occupied.

I finished my breakfast and took my bowl into the kitchen. I turned smoothly and skipped out of the kitchen, though I tripped over something white and fuzzy and went sprawling into the dining room. I scrunched my eyes shut and waited for my impact with the ground. It never came.

I opened my eyes slowly, then almost scrunched them shut again. I refrained and surveyed the boy who had been my savior, fully expecting Lakotah, and getting a shock at what I did see. He had pale, almost glistening, skin that matched his very pale blonde hair. He was wearing all white, even his shoes. But what captivated my attention were his eyes. They were as gold as the ring he wore on his finger. They were beautiful. A quiet, silky voice interrupted my train of thought and what I was pretty sure was staring.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. Thank you."

I stood up and looked at him again.

"Who are you? And, if you don't mind my asking, what are you doing here?"

He smiled and stood up, picking up the fuzz ball I tripped over earlier.

"I'm Mical. Hayley brought me here."

"Oh. Hi."

"Hi."

He seemed uncomfortable, so I decided to leave with as much grace as I could. I smiled at him and walked back outside and sat on the chair I had previously occupied not three minutes ago. I lounged contentedly until I heard someone walk up behind me.

"You must be Catryna," said a voice that sounded like bells.

I turned around to see a girl who reminded me more of a pixie. She was only an inch taller than me, but the way she carried herself gave her the presence of someone who was much older. Her shoulder-length dark chocolate brown hair was falling in ringlets from a loose flower clasp. She had soft features and kind, gentle eyes. Even if they _were_ dark purple. What is it with people and their weird contacts around here? Oh well. They were pretty. And she didn't _look_ mental. Why did my parents say she was?

"Yeah, I am. You're Hayley, right?"

She smiled warmly.

"Yes. I'm sorry I wasn't there to pick you up. I hope you settled in okay."

"It's okay. Lakotah's been nice to me. And yeah, I did."

She smiled at me again, then went inside. Okay, so she was nice enough. And not hovering. That was a good sign. I liked solitude most of the time. Like right now. I pondered over all of the people I now had to share the house with. They all seemed nice and clean, so I didn't mind this too much. The house certainly had enough space. We would probably have to go get more food, though.

"Want some company, Princess?"

I opened my eyes and looked up to see Lakotah towering over me. I smiled, still in my happy bubble. I motioned for him to sit down too, smiling in what I knew must have looked like a lunatic manner. He seemed unaffected by it, but I could tell he was smiling too. We talked with each other happily for around two hours, then Hayley called us in for lunch. That girl could cook, I'll give her that. That was the best salad I had ever eaten. Maybe it was just the fresh fruit and vegetables that were in it. Who knows. I didn't really care as long as she did the cooking and not Lakotah.

I realized later as I was laying in bed that night that the sun in Brazil was much more intense than what I was used to. I was red all over my body. And I hurt. Really badly. I couldn't move or touch my skin without running the risk of causing myself stinging pain. I managed to sleep some I think. I glared at the lights as I pried my eyes open. I drug myself into my closet and pulled on a loose, soft dress that touched my skin very little. I eased myself down the stairs and sat gingerly on a chair in the kitchen. I received strange stares from everyone at the table, even the white fuzzball kitten.

"Okay, I am aware that I'm sunburnt, but can you stop staring at me?"

"Sorry, I can't help it...it looks so _painful_." Lakotah mumbled around food.

"It is. Thanks for pointing it out, Captain Obvious."

"Anytime. Do you want some aloe for it?"

"Um...sure." I had no idea what he was talking about.

And then there was Mical. He was eating quietly, I didn't even know he was there until he reprimanded his cat for trying to eat out of his cereal bowl. I surveyed him; he was wearing all white again. His eyes were still gold. His hair still blonde. Woo, nothing changed. Hayley was wearing some sort of gauzy green dress with purple trim, her hair up in a clip again. Lakotah was wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt. He didn't look like he had been running. I wonder why. He ran every morning, even if it was a torrential downpour outside.

"Too hot to run?"

Lakotah looked up at me. "No, I just didn't feel like going."

"Oh. Okay." I replied as I got my cereal.

That was odd. He never didn't feel like going running. Oh well. I decided not to dwell on it, it wasn't like it was a big deal. I sat down and ate my cereal passively, watching Lakotah and Hayley talk, Mical chiming in occasionally. After I finished my breakfast I ditched the table and went to the huge library in the back of the house. I sat gingerly in one of the enormous chairs in the enormous room, trying not to ignite the stinging pain that went with my excruciating sunburn. I must have read for hours, getting absorbed in the multiple books that seemed to captivate me. I had read over half of them by now, and seemed to have taken up the hobby of taking notes. Which I never even had in school. Oh well. I had gotten the basic principles of everything to do with werewolves, from their birth and heritage to the sickness/disease that seemed to appear when they went through their transformation for the first time. Even who their enemies and hunters were. Their legends were fascinating, as well. Even if I did have to sort through and figure out the entropy of it all.

"Find anything interesting?" I heard from the doorway.

I jumped and dropped my book, causing it to make a dull thud as it hit the floor. I looked up to see Lakotah towering in the huge doorway, looking at me from across the room.

"Uh, yeah, I did. How did you know I was in here and why did you come to find me anyways?"

"Hayley saw you go this way, and she noticed some of her books missing from the shelf last night. She knew I had never been in here, so she figured it was you. She told me you'd probably be here. I figured you might want some company. And even if you didn't, I did, so you'll just have to suffer through it."

"N-no, you're right, I would like some company. It wouldn't be suffering for me at all. So you're welcome to join me if you jut want to sit there quietly and watch me read. Maybe even pick up one of those square things, they're called books by the way, and read something yourself."

"Ha ha Princess. Very funny. I know what books are. I can read. I just choose not to. And I don't plan to start any time soon, thank you very much."

"Suit yourself." I went back to reading after picking up my abandoned book.

I could feel him watching me, but decided to shove my book over my face and hide my blush. It went silently for several minutes, then Lakotah coughed, making me jump.

"Sorry. Um, there's a really good restaurant downtown, would you want to go tonight?"

This was definitely not what I was expecting. Ever.

"Um.....yeah, I'd love to go," I got out in a jumbled mess, blushing heavily.

"Good. We'll leave around seven." Lakotah grinned at me. I smiled back shyly, still blushing heavily. I knew he would notice this, though hoping he would write it off as part of my sunburn. I looked at the clock. Five thirty. Wow, I had been in here all day. I stood up and stretched gingerly, barely avoiding the sting of my sunburn yet again.

"I'm gonna go get ready, okay? How fancy is the restaurant?"

"Jeans and a t-shirt would work fine."

"Okay. Thanks."

"No, thank you. You agreed to go." He smiled at me radiantly. I smiled back, recovering some of the blush I had lost. I walked out of the room, and went up to my bedroom. I found some lotion for my burn on my bed, with a note including instructions from Hayley. I smiled. I'll be forever grateful if this stuff works. I turned to my closet and descended upon the task of finding an outfit, which turned out to be a thirty minute endeavor. I also decided that I would take a shower, after I generously lathered my body with the lotion. My shower took another half an hour, and that was hurrying, though my sunburn slowed me down considerably. When I got out I dried my hair, taking ten minutes to style it the way I wanted; in soft curls. I distributed my remaining time with makeup, pulling on clothes and shoes, and making sure I hadn't forgotten anything. I glanced in the mirror, noticing that my sunburn was mostly gone. Hallelujah. I went to my door and started down the stairs to go on my first date, with a boy I used to convince myself I didn't like. Now, I'm not sure if I can dislike him or not.

I blushed for what seems like the fiftieth time since we got in the car to go to dinner. Lakotah had just helped me out of the car and took my hand firmly. Then he decided to smile, then lead me inside. He was right, the restaurant was fairly casual. In fact, I felt way over-dressed.

"I'm way too fancy to be here."

"Chill, you're fine. It's not that specific of a restaurant. It's perfectly fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Princess, quite sure. I come here quite often."

"Okay. Why do you always call me Princess?" I sat in the chair indicated to me by Lakotah and watched as he sat too.

"No reason in general I guess. I just do."

"Well can I call you an orangutan then?"

"Why on earth would you call me that?"

"Because all you care about is cars and working out and eating."

"I'm offended!"

"You don't look it." And he didn't, in fact, he looked quite tickled. And slightly flushed. I took this as a sign that he was having to try and contain his laughter. We ordered, then had about fifteen minutes of random, pointless conversation.

"Chicken Parmesan?" the waiter inquired politely.

"O-oh...that's mine..." I stuttered out as he handed mine to me and then gave Lakotah his crab cakes and shrimp on skewers.

"Thank you. This looks really good." Lakotah thanked the server as he nodded his head in thanks and left.

"This looks amazingly good, Lakotah. Thanks for bringing me."

"Sure, Princess. Oh, and about the whole nickname thing, tell me what you want me to call you and I'll consider using it, and if you're lucky maybe I'll tell you what my nickname commonly is. I actually have quite a few, but I like one in particular."

"Oh really?" I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, the Orangutan likes something other than cars and eating."

I did a very unladylike snort into the middle of my pasta, causing spaghetti sauce to go simultaneously down my windpipe and onto Lakotah's face. This, in turn, resulted in a fit of giggles- both in response to the look of awe and shock on Lakotah's face, as well as just the situation in general.

"Well that was unexpected..." he laughed. I blushed yet again, mumbling an apology as he started wiping it off his face. I studied him from under my eyelashes as he started scarfing his crab cakes, then imitated a Hoover as he inhaled the shrimp right off the skewers. I too found that I was hungrier than I realized as I started delving into my pasta, cutting the golden brown breaded chicken into pieces. We both fell comfortably silent as we resumed eating, then ordered desert. It was a huge, three-layered chocolate monstrosity with molten chocolate erupting from the middle of it and through the many scoops of ice cream and the layers of whipped cream down to little pools in the bottom of the bowl. I realized it had been too silent for a while and looked up to see Lakotah looking slightly more off than when we got here.

"Something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry, daydreaming I guess. So, do you want to know about the nicknames?"

"Oh, um... people normally call me Cat or Caty. But I like Princess too, if that's what you would prefer to call me."

"Really?"

I nodded.

"Now, your turn to dish the nickname."

"Fine," he grumbled, "my friends back on the reservation called me Lake. Sometimes Kotah. But I like Lake a lot better."

"Hmmm....okay. I agree, Lake is better. There's not really many other ways to abbreviate your name...it's kind of long and Indianish. No offense..."

"No, I totally agree..." he replied distractedly. "I'll be right back." And with that he got up and went of in the direction of the men's bathroom across the restaurant. I noticed he looked kind of shaky, and he looked a little closer to my skin color than his own. Oh well. Maybe he was just tired. If something was wrong he would tell me. I waited several minutes for him to get back, then got worried after about seven minutes passed. I felt my cell phone start vibrating in my pocket. Curious, and seeing as how Lakotah was still in the bathroom, I pulled it out and answered it.

"Hello? Catryna Richardson."

"Princess, would it be okay if we left? I don't think my seafood agreed with me."

"Lakotah?! Yeah, we can go. Where are you?"

"In the bathroom...I'll rinse my mouth out and meet you at the car, okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine. Take your time. I'll pay and then go start the car."

"Thanks..."

"You're welcome. We need to get you home."

"Mmkay..."

"I'll see you soon. Bye."

I hung up and paid the waiter, then did as I had promised and went to start the car. I really hoped Lakotah would be okay for the ride home and not puke in my car. And I also hoped he would feel better in general. He sounded pretty bad on the phone. I noticed him walk out of the front doors and immediately noticed that he looked sick. He opened the door and sat next to me, resting his head against the headrest of the seat.

"Lakotah what's wrong? Do you think it was the fish or something you ate for lunch? Or something you had yesterday?"

"I don't know, I didn't think that far..." he groaned through semi-clenched teeth.

"Hmmm..." I thought, trying to decipher a meal that the two of us had eaten differently in the last few days. I came up with nothing but the fact that he always lacks to eat breakfast. But surely that wouldn't make him sick like this. I would try to find out his symptoms and ask Hayley if she knew what could be wrong with him. Maybe he had gotten a weird 24-hour bug that the natives have or something.

"Just get me home, please. I'm sorry I ruined our date."

"It's not your fault you got sick."

"Mmmm...." Lakotah mumbled, putting a hand over his eyes. The rest of the drive was silent, minus the occasional shifting of gears or the noises of parrots squawking from the thick canopy of trees. I pulled into the circular driveway to the huge white monstrosity of a house, then watched Lakotah as he carefully got out and shut the door.

"This is not good, I feel lightheaded and shaky."

"Here, let me help you then..." I took his hand, guiding him inside and to his room, flipping on the light.

"Lie down, and I'll be back with some water, medicine, pajamas, and a trash can."

I went in search of just such things, finding them rather quickly in the retrospect that I have basically no idea where Hayley and Lakotah keep things. I brought them all back to Lakotah's room to find him sprawled on his back, sweating profusely.

"Hey, feeling any better?"

All I got was a feeble shake of the head. I handed him the pajamas, telling him to change while I got the medicine out and the garbage can beside the bed. I turned around, smiling slightly as I noticed that he had disregarded the pajamas in lieu of just stripping to his underwear.

"Lake, you're going to freeze when you stop sweating."

He smiled slightly at my use of his nickname, then shook his head.

"Too hot......"

I frowned and went over to him, putting one hand on his forehead and the other on his cheek, resulting in my left hand becoming slightly warmer.

"You've got a little bit of a fever, nothing major though. You could probably sleep it off if you actually sleep."

Again, only a nod. I put a cool cloth on his forehead and neck.

"Try to sleep, and call me if you need anything."

"Mmkay." he rolled over and smiled at me, then closed his eyes.

I walked out, trying to ignore the nagging that I should stay with him, telling him that he would call me if he needed me. I closed the door softly and went to the library for what was sure to be a very long night.


End file.
